The least expensive way to travel to the real Edinburgh, Scotland, is to read an Ian Rankin novel. The Edinburgh you'll come to know in Rankin's books is not the same city that the tourists see as they shop on Princess Street or wander the Mound near Edinburgh Castle. Sometimes referred to as the Athens of Britain, Edinburgh, from the tourists view, is a pleasing mixture of green parks, stunning architecture and Scottish culture. From the perspective of Rankin's characters, it is a hotbed of crime. John Rebus is a detective inspector with the Edinburgh police and the central character in a series of Rankin's novels. Rebus is subtly humorous while revealing the underlying sadness that colors a policeman's life. He is constantly being moved from station to station, left without a desk and spoken of as a troublemaker. His investigative methods are as unconventional as his lifestyle of little sleep, too much drinking and the polite pursuit of the wrong women.

It is no wonder that the first couple of lines of the novel are, "'I'm not supposed to be here,' Detective Inspector John Rebus said. Not that anyone was listening." From there—where he is not supposed to be—he travels even further from the path that his very proper superiors among the police would choose. Rebus begins his trek at Knoxland, a housing project that packs as many people into as little space as possible in deference to the god of poverty. The murder victim is an illegal immigrant.

Therein begins a wild ride through the social issue of the hour: illegal immigration. Yes, Scotland has many of the same problems we have, although they are hidden well amongst the lush golf courses and Highland heather. The Scots struggle as we do with a desire to protect their culture and financial viability contrasted with a compassion for the needs of those who come from other countries to escape the violence and poverty of Africa and Eastern Europe.

As the theme of illegal immigration weaves its way through organized crime, the night life of Edinburgh and the University's students, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, a friend of Rebus, is confronted with the disappearance and suspected death of a girl whose sister committed suicide after having been raped. Distraught parents appear in her life as they had years before when she had investigated the rape and death of one daughter, this time to report the disappearance of their remaining daughter.

Clarke's investigation of the disappearance leads her to a nightclub that she later learns is under surveillance for possible organized crime connections. The particular crime is the importation of illegal immigrants to provide a source of inexpensive labor. Rebus' investigation into the immigrant's Knoxland murder becomes connected with Clarke's investigation and both are called together to investigate what at first appears to be a double murder. Two skeletons are uncovered in the basement of a pub, but are found later to have been stolen from Edinburgh University where they had been kept as teaching aids. Case solved, right? Not exactly.

Why were the skeletons stolen from the University, and who did it? Is there a connection between the discovery of the skeletons and the death of the Knoxland immigrant or the disappearance of the girl that Clarke is trying to locate? Does the reader care?

The reader does care, because Rankin's storytelling skills are excellent. Although his style is understated, he keeps the reader engrossed by building intrigue around social commentary immersed in crystal-clear descriptions of the culture of everyday life in Edinburgh. One can almost taste the single-malt whiskey Rebus sips in his flat overlooking the crowded residential neighborhood that is one of the hundreds of such neighborhoods across the city. The plots are a natural progression of the interaction between the characters' personalities and the common, sometimes mundane, events that take place in our lives.

Rankin is an easy, comfortable fit for an airplane ride, a day at the beach or those quiet minutes before you turn out the light on a busy work day. As to the title Fleshmarket Alley—don't get hung up in a name. The U.K. edition of the novel is entitled "Fleshmarket Close," a "close" being a very narrow walkway between two streets. Rankin's walkway will bring you close enough to rub elbows with real life in Scotland.